Exam Tips from the WLC
Exams are just around the corner, and for 1Ls it will be a brand-new experience. Getting ready for your first law school exams can be tough, so here are some helpful tips from the WLC Board on preparing for the next few weeks!
“Work hard every day during finals, but take a break at night. It’ll help you from burning out” - Addie, President
“Stick to a schedule, take as many practice exams as you can, and remember that your abilities are the reason you got into Northwestern Law. Nothing is more important, however, than to ignore people who give off a stressful vibe!” - Sahar, Communications Director
“Take a deep breath and realize that it’s going to be okay no matter what. Even if you feel super overwhelmed, take a few minutes every day to go for a walk or chat with a friend, whatever you need to do for your mental health. I promise your brain will work better if you can do things to stay sane despite how stressful finals are. Just try your best and don’t worry about anyone else!” - Emily J., Membership
“(1) Don’t read into what other people are doing; keep your head down and do what works for you. (2) Create boundaries around your study habits, and do other things too, aka take care of yourself. (3) Try to see thee forest beyond the trees; look for interesting patterns, points of distinctions, or policy implications in the course materials. Hone in on the content that mattered to your professor; your exam, after all, is being written by that person. (4) Be supportive and vulnerable with your friends and peers; don’t let thee anxiety make you someone ugly… people remember that, and it’s a bad look to seem competitive or aggressive.” - Kate, Professional Development
“(1) Burn-out is real; take a nap or do something fun after each final to give yourself a mental break. (2) Don't be afraid to take bathroom breaks. (3) When you're done, put it behind you. As Jocelyn says, don't post-game. I once said to some friends, ‘we can go get lunch but anyone who wants to talk about the exam has to sit at a different table.’” - Leksa, Community Development
“Don't be afraid to go at your own pace. I know it's nerve wracking to see classmates studying during the afternoon of an exam day, but if that doesn't work for you take the afternoon off!” - Emily G., Professional Development
“(1) Grades matter, but don’t base your self-worth around them. Being a well-rounded person, being able to hold a conversation and showing that you’re committed matter a lot in terms of future employment. (2) NU has the best public interest summer funding of any law school in the nation. Strongly consider, if not plan on, working a PI job in the summer- not because your grades will be mostly irrelevant, though that’s true, but because it may be the last time that you will get to fully commit yourself to that type of work for a while. (3) Don’t try to game the system, as tempting as it may be. You can’t tell yourself that you’re going to study hard for Torts and neglect Crim because you think it will be easier, and the good grade in Torts will make up for a lesser grade in Crim- students did that a couple years ago and an administrative error led to an entire section getting “CR” with no grade. Everyone who invested all of their energy in that class at the expense of others got screwed. Don’t think that you can beat the system. (4) Stay hydrated. Bring lots of snacks to exams. Get ear plugs. Have an exam kit (extra pens/highlighters/good/aspirin) ready the night before each exam. (5). Check your laptop for updates. Bring your charger. Take your laptop to the computer desk in the library for a check up. If something happens, don’t freak out, just problem solve. My entire Word application stopped working and decided that it needed to update right in the middle of my Con Law final, so I hit save furiously, copied all that I could and opened my Notes app. I worked on Notes until the Word application updated and then I copied all of my material from there back to the Word doc. (6) Ask any and all stupid questions before you head into the exam. One of our exams allowed us to use the internet, and several people didn’t know that until after we’d written it. Try to understand the absolute limitations on what you are allowed, and then stay within them. (7) Practice typing quickly and try not to let yourself stop all the time for grammar and editing. It sounds terrible, but in many classes (NOT Prof Kadens’!) there is a distinct relationship between how much you write and how well you do. Spot every issue and explain every element as much and as best you can, and only then go back to correct your spelling. If the model answers are 28 pages long and “the” is misspelled, that’s a class where you’d do best to write as much as possible. (8) Some of you will not get awesome grades, and that is ok. You are going to be ok. You will graduate from an elite law school so long as you want to, and that is the golden ticket. Yes, OCI will be harder and yes you will have to practice more, but yes, you will get a job and yes, you will become an attorney. You are going to be ok.- Aimee, Symposium
“(1) Take practice exams seriously, as if you were in the actual exam. I would also take them in an environment similar to the classroom - where it’s quiet but you’re still working, others are typing and possibly moving around. (2) Find a way that works for you to keep track of time during the exam. Don’t let yourself spend too much time on one question that you don’t have enough time for others.” - Madi, Symposium
“(1) Bring earplugs even if you don’t think you need them (typing is loud). (2) Take time to read the whole question (even if other people have started typing already) - it will save you time ultimately. (3) Don’t talk about the test and compare answers after - it never helps and there’s no way of knowing what your grade will be based off of that. (4) Forget about the test as soon as you’ve taken it and move on to the next thing - again, there’s no way of knowing how you did and this becomes very clear once grades come back. (5) Let yourself take a break the afternoon of each final - recovery will be more helpful than cramming in more studying.” - Ellen, VP